Harvey Norman furniture no friend of Australian native forests

Greens Senator and forests spokesperson Lee Rhiannon has called on Australian consumers to contact retailer Harvey Norman to protest the sale of furniture using native timbers, following the release today of an investigative report showing Australian timber is being sent to China, made into furniture then sold at big furniture retail outlets across the nation.

“Consumers have enormous muscle. They can help convince big retailers like Harvey Norman to stop selling furniture from Australian native forests,” Ms Rhiannon said.

“Tasmanian oak, blackwood and jarrah trees should be home to black cockatoos, koalas and numbats , not logged to make furniture.

“Markets for Change and GetUp!, as part of the ‘noharveyno’ campaign, have done an important job uncovering the native timber trail from Australian shores to China and back again.

“As a dominant retail force in Australia Harvey Norman can lead the way and say ‘no’ to selling products made from Australian native forests.

“Converting Australian native forests into furniture for sale in Australian stores is absurd when plentiful plantation timber is available.

Senator Rhiannon criticised the decision of industry body ‘Commercials Advice’ (CAD) to refuse classification to a GetUp! television ad produced as part of the native forests campaign.

“Getting the word out to the public about how our native forests are being destroyed and used for commercial gain is critical,” Ms Rhiannon said.